Territory



(No Model.)

R. B. GHRITTON. GAR GOUPLING.

N0.576,55o. Pqmgmmgdm. 9,1897.v

mmmmmm and useful Car-Coupling, of which the followp ing is a specication.

- mouth and provided at its bottom with a fixed UNITED STATES y PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT B. CHRITTON, OF NORTH ENID, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f LetterS Patent N0. 576,550, dated February 9, 1897.

Application filed November 10, 1896. Serial No. 611,668. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT B. OHRITTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Enid, in the county of Gareld and Territory of Oklahoma, have invented a new The invention relates to improvements in car-couplings.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of car-couplings and to provide one which will be simple, inexpensive, strong, and durable, and which will be capable of vcoupling automatically and of being readily uncoupled from the top and sides of cars without going between them.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and larrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car-coupling constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to a car. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the swinging catch. Eig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the draw-head.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l designates a draw-head having a iaring catch 2, substantially triangular in cross-secl tion and formed by recessing the bottom of the draw-head in rear of the throat. The fixed catch 2 is adapted to be engaged by an arrow-headed link 3, and it is provided at its rear face with a groove to provide a hookshaped upper portion. The link is held in engagement with the iixed catch bya swinging catch 4, which is mounted on a transverse shaft or pin 5, and the latter is journaled in suitable openings of the sides of the draw-head and projects beyond the same. The swinging catch 4 has an enlarged central portion rounded at the rear or inner face and provided with a transverse opening to receive the said shaft or pin. It is provided at its bottom with a depending lip to engage the link, and it has a tapering extension or iiange which extends above the transverse shaft or pin and which engages the upper wall of the draw-head to form a stop for limiting the forward movement of the lower portion of the catch. The flange or extension 6 is cut away at opposite sides in order to clear the tapered or iiaring sides of the mouth of the draw-head. The lower portion or lip of the swinging catch, when it is in its normal position, bears against the inclined shoulders la, formed by the iiaring side portions of the mouth of the drawhead.

The link entering the draw-head is adapted to swing the lower portion of the movable catch 4 rearward, and as soon as the head of the link passes the swinging catch the latter drops by gravity and locks the link in engagement with the fixed catch.

The draw-head is made solid or is formed integral, and in assembling the swinging catch the latter is introduced in the drawhead and the shaft or pin inserted from one side thereof. One end of the shaft or pin is of greater diameter than the other end, and the intermediate portion is polygonal to conform to the configuration of the perforation of the catch, whereby the latter is fixed to the shaft or pin. The central polygonal portion of the shaft or pin, which is formed by reducing the pin or shaft, provides a shoulder at one end against which the pivoted catch bears. The catch by engaging such shoulder will lock the shaft or pin against movement in one direction, and it is locked against movement in the opposite direction by a disk 7, arranged on the exterior of one side of the draw-head and provided with a clamping-screw 8 for engaging the shaft or pin.

The terminals of the shaft or pin carry crank-arms 10, extending inward or rearward to within a short distance of a car and then transversely thereof to within easy reach from the sides of the car. The crank-arms or handles are provided with weights 12, preferably consisting of knobs and adapted to assist in holding the pivoted or swinging catch in engagement with the link to prevent the latter from being accidentally released by the vibrations of the parts. The operation of uncoupling is performed from the top of a car by means of an operating-rod 13, arranged in a suitable guide 14 and connected with an arm IOO l5, which extends rearward :from one end of the transverse shaft.

It will be seen that the car-coupling is sin1 ple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, that it is capable of automatic coupling, and that it may be readily uncoupled even when there is a strain on the link, such as when a train is in motion.

Vhat I claim is- In a car coupling, the combination of a draw-head, provided with a flaring mouth and recessed at its bottom to form a fixed catch 2, said catch being provided at its rear face with a groove, a pivoted catch depending from the top of the draw-head, provided with a lower lip and having an upwardly-extending flange forming a stop to engage the top of the drawhead and recessed at its ends to clear the ilart ROBERT B. CIIRI'I"`ON.

IYitnesSes:

JOHN F. PAYNE, JAMES l). LISLE. 

